The Bible for Women

Weekly Devotional

Our Resolution

As we approach 2008, many of us make resolutions or goals that we want to accomplish in the upcoming year. Many of us make a general goal to "be a better Christian." This should definitely be a daily goal for Christians and not just a yearly one, but maybe the generalization is too difficult to define; therefore, more difficult to obtain. Let's break down "be a better Christian" into a goal that we can see, measure, and achieve.

We know that Christ defeated the devil with scripture. By his example, we must know the scriptures in order to defeat the devil. One goal we can make is to read our Bibles daily or make a goal to read the entire Bible in a year. On this website under "links," there is a daily Bible reading schedule to print and use for this purpose. Christian bookstores also have publications to help you with this goal.

Another goal we can measure is "forgiving others." Can people change? Of course we can. Paul changed. Peter changed. David changed. Rahab changed. God can change people. He can change their hearts and their minds. Let us resolve to forgive people in our lives that have hurt us. Let us choose to release them of the debt we think they owe us. We can change our attitudes toward them. Just decide to do it. We also must assume that they have forgiven us for hurting them. We cannot continue to dwell in unforgiveness or guilt. We must know that Christ forgives and "love covers a multitude of sins." 1 John 3:10 states, "This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do whatever is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother." Does that mean we can continue to say of our brother and sister in Christ, "Well, I do not like her and I do not have to speak to her, but I love her soul." According to verses 18-20, our actions show our love, not our words. "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue, but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts and he knows everything."

By forgiving our brothers and sisters in Christ, we can reach another goal of assembling and meeting together with the saints. This not only includes worship services, but other opportunities to be with other Christians. It is very difficult to meet together with someone whom we have not forgiven or with someone from whom we have not asked forgiveness. Hebrews 10:24-25 states, "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another and all the more as we see the day approaching."

A final way we can measure our goal to be a better Christian is by talking to God. Our daily prayers are a blessing to us and God wants to hear from us. Our Savior gave us many examples of the importance of prayer. How can we be close to God if we do not speak with him and if we do not listen to his voice? We must make time to commune with God throughout our day.

These are a few ways to measure our goal, "to be a better Christian." Start now. Let's pray for our goal to succeed every day.

May God bless your week. Margie